What Are Horse Vaccines, and How Do They Work?

A horse vaccine contains a harmless form of a
disease-causing organism. When the vaccine is given to a horse it tricks the
horse's immune system into believing its body is under attack by the real thing.
This causes the horse's immune system to work to identify what is attacking it,
and to figure out what type of antibodies will kill it. The horse will produce
antibodies until it successfully produces the right type of
antibody that kills off the "practice" disease provided by the vaccine. Thanks
to this valuable practice, if the horse should ever be exposed to the real
disease it will be able to identify it quickly and begin producing large numbers
of antibodies to quickly and efficiently kill it.

Disclaimer
CowboyWay.com does not warrant the accuracy or timeliness of any of the
information found on the CowboyWay.com website, and does not accept liability
for errors or omissions. In addition, anything found on CowboyWay.com is not
intended to replace veterinary care for your horse or other animals. Always
consult a veterinarian or other trained animal health care professional
regarding any matter relating to the health and/or health care of your animals.

Do Vaccines Always Work?

No vaccine is ever a 100% guarantee your horse won't
get sick. Most of the time vaccines do a good job of providing immunity
for our horses, but sometimes a horse can get sick anyway. If your horse does
become ill with a disease he or she has been vaccinated for, the chances are
good that the vaccine will at least reduce the symptoms and duration of the
illness.

How Long Does A Vaccination Last?

Usually, horse vaccines do not provide a lifetime of immunity.
You should consult with an equine veterinarian in your area to know what
vaccines to give to your horse, and when or how often to repeat them.

Common Terms Associated With Horse Vaccines and Vaccinations

When talking to your veterinarian
and/or buying vaccine it can be confusing to hear the proper terms sometimes
used with horse vaccines, or to read them on the package label. Below is a short
list of very common terms used when talking about vaccines.

Adjuvant - A vaccine adjuvant is something that is mixed with the vaccine to cause a better
immune response by the horse's body. Not all vaccines have or need adjuvants.
Common adjuvants that come with some vaccines for horses today are Havlogen and Spur.

Antigen - An antigen is a substance that stimulates the immune system to
produce antibodies.

Attenuated - Attenuated means weakened, thinned, reduced, or diminished. Many
vaccines are made from attenuated strains of disease-causing organisms.

Efficacy - When talking about vaccines, efficacy means the ability to
create or produce the desired amount of protection from disease.

Intramuscular Injection (IM) - An intramuscular injection is when medications
(including vaccines) are delivered into the muscle by a needle. Many
equine vaccines are given by intramuscular injection.

Killed Vaccines (also called inactivated vaccines) - This is a vaccine that
contains a disease causing organism that has been killed or inactivated. Killed
vaccines are frequently teamed up with an adjuvant (see "adjuvant," above) to
help boost the immune response.

Modified Live Vaccines (also called modified-live vaccines or live-attenuated
vaccines) - These are vaccines that contain disease producing organisms that are
still alive, but they have been modified (see "attenuated," above)
so that they don't cause illness.

Pathogen - A pathogen is any organism that causes disease.

Subcutaneous Injection (SQ) - A subcutaneous injection is when medications
(including vaccines) are delivered just underneath the skin by a needle. Some
equine vaccines are given by subcutaneous injection.

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